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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Animal Dentistry

Veterinary dentistry popularly known as animal dentistry is the field of dentistry applied to the care of animals. It provides prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions, diseases, and disorders of the oral cavity (mouth) and the maxillofacial region (bones and jaws) as it relates to animals. In the United States, veterinary dentistry is one of 20 veterinary specialties recognized nowadays. Veterinary dentists offer services in the fields of endodontics, radiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine, orthodontics, pedodontics, periodontics, and prosthodontics. Similar to human dentists, they treat conditions such as tooth decay, jaw fractures, malocclusions, oral cancer, periodontal (gums) disease, and stomatitis (infections) and other conditions.

Braces, teeth cleaning, tooth reconstruction, root canals, cleft palate surgeries and other dental procedures used to be limited to human beings. But nowadays, more human beings are willing to pay to improve the health and comfort of their pets by taking them to the dentist.

Common problems associated with animals :
One of the most common problems seen is periodontal disease (gum disease). This is quite prevalent among animals, mainly because they don’t brush. If left untreated, the teeth may become loosen and fall out, thereby preventing the animals from eating properly. To fix the problem, the teeth are cleaned thoroughly. In severe cases, a surgical procedure is done to improve the contour of the gums.

Fractured teeth are the second most common problem. A root canal treatment is done, the nerve, blood vessels and pulp are removed and filled with some material. If left untreated, abscesses can form and this can kill an animal.

The third most important problem is fractured jaws. This is treated with the help of surgical procedures done under anesthesia.
Cancer of the oral cavity is fairly common.
Generally, dentistry treatments for animals are derived from treatments developed for humans, but there are many biological differences between human and other animals that need to be studied.